Borderline

Chapter 21

Eli and I didn't bother to find and roll out mats. As soon as we got to the gym, I was on him.

"Get out of this," I teased. I had him in a tight rear choke hold.

Eli tried to grab my legs, but I moved them out of the way, keeping my grip around his neck.

Just when I thought I had won, he dropped down to one knee and rolled over so we were on our backs, him on top of me.

"That's, like, the worst thing you could have done," I said, struggling to speak under his weight.

"Was it, now?" He laughed between gasps for air. I was about to ask what he meant by that when he bit me.

That little bitch bit me!

I released my hold, despite my initial instinct to keep him pinned. I stared at him, but I couldn't say anything before he had my hands pinned above my head with one hand and my waist pinned down with another.

"Get out of this," he said, mocking my words from earlier. I glared at him.

"I didn't know we were playing dirty. I was gonna go easy on you, too." I brought my knee up and hit him in the groin, causing him to immediately get off me.

"What the hell, Ryder?!"

I got up and shrugged. "All's fair in love and war, right?"

I stood there for a few minutes, waiting for him to recover.

"You should really start wearing a cup."

He glared at me, then gave me a predatory smile. "Alright, if that's how you wanna play, let's go."

I slipped a knife out from under my sleeve and smirked. "Hope you're armed, pretty boy. Wouldn't want to mess up that cute face."

Eli raised an eyebrow and I saw something shine in his hand. It was a silver dagger. "Like I wouldn't come prepared. And did you just call me cute?"

I charged at him, barely missing his cheek. I stood off to the side of him now, watching his shocked expression. My smile grew. "Don't get distracted."

He looked at me out of the corner of his eyes and I shifted my stance slightly, ready to dodge.

He sprinted at me, and I blocked his blade that had been pointed at my eye. If that would have hit, it wouldn't have been pretty.

"Geez, man! Do you want me to be blind?" I spoke as I blocked more blade attacks.

This kid was better than I thought.

Like, way better.

Eli paused for just a second, calculating his next move, and I took action. I slipped my other knife down from my sleeve and slid between his legs, which were parted for balance. I made small cuts on the insides of his calves.

I heard him quietly hiss in pain as I stood up behind him. I quickly brought the knifes around his throat while he was distracted. "Checkmate."

Eli's breathing was heavy, and mine wasn't much better. He held his hands up in surrender. "Fine. You got me."

I squinted, trying to figure out if I could trust him or not. I decided to loosen up a bit.

That was a mistake.

Before I could register what was going on, we were in almost the same position we started with. I was pinned underneath Eli, except this time he held his dagger to my throat to keep me from moving.

I stared at him, impressed. He smirked at me. "Don't let your guard down. Didn't you tell me that, once?"

I rolled my eyes and opened my mouth to retaliate when he sat on my hips. "What are you doing?"

His cocky smirk stayed in place. "Making sure you don't move. Is there a problem?"

"Yeah, you're heavy. And you're sitting on me."

Eli laughed a little and brought his face closer to mine. "Is that all?"

I felt my face heat up, but I didn't know why. "Y-Yes. What else would it be?"

I couldn't move my hands to push him off, and my knives had been thrown from my grasp on impact. I felt a sense of fear grow inside me as Eli's face drew closer.

I felt a pair of lips touch mine lightly, and I turned my head away. "No way, man."

Eli grabbed my chin and forced my head back toward him. "Then do something to stop me."

It hit me. This was a test, just like the ones Joshua gave me.

I smiled as I thought of a plan. "What if I don't want to?"

Eli squinted slightly, trying to figure out my plan. "Then I guess I'm going to do whatever I want with you."

I widened my eyes, trying to look cute. "Oh, darn."

I saw his face flush, and I felt a sense of victory. "Ok, if you insist."

I let him kiss me, and I slowly started to slip my hands through his now loose grip.

I felt myself close my eyes while he was kissing me, and I reciprocated. It felt surprisingly good.

When my hands were free, I forgot what I was going to do with them. Eli's kiss was intoxicating, and it was messing with my head.

I didn't like that.

However, my brain apparently did, which resulted in me putting my arms around his neck and pulling him closer.

I felt Eli's tongue trace along my bottom lip, and I went to auto-pilot. I opened my mouth eagerly and let his tongue tangle with mine.

He tasted like peppermint.

Eventually he pulled away, resting his forehead against mine. His face was bright red, and I'm sure mine wasn't any better.

"So," he said, panting. "That was..."

"Yeah..." It took me a second to think of a plan to bring this back to fighting. "But there's one thing that could have made it even better."

Eli raised an eyebrow. "And what would that be?"

I placed my hands on his chest and bucked my hips up, causing him to fall off and me to roll on top of him. Now our positions were switched.

I got really close to him. Our lips were only a couple of inches apart. "I like to be on top." I winked at him, and he smirked.

"Fine with me." He snaked his hands around the back of my neck and pulled me closer, closing those few inches between us.

This kiss was more urgent than the last one. This one was rougher and more hungry.

I kissed back, only slightly surprised this time. I pulled away first, and Eli followed my mouth. I smiled. "Well, someone's eager."

He blinked, then blushed harder. "Shut up."

I laughed and got off of him, then helped him up.

"So," he started. "Have you deemed me worthy to become your travel buddy?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, sure. Whatever you want."

He smiled, then grabbed me by the waist and pulled me flush against him. He kissed me for a third time, but this one was quick and light.

Something in the back of my head wished it would have lasted longer.